My Former Manner Of Life In Judaism
Subject: "My Former Manner Of Life In Judaism" - May 2026 New Mexico Prayer Connect/PATH, NM/COG, NM - El Paso, TX & (SWIM) SW Indian Ministries Newsletter!
"My Former Manner Of Life In Judaism"
Galatians 1:13 For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;
14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.
"In time past" or "of my earlier career" is what Paul the Apostle/Saul of Tarsus, a previous Pharisee is speaking of here, while writing under the influence of the Holy Spirit to the church/ecclesia/the called out ones in Galatia, located in modern-day Turkey. I personally could speak 'of my former manner of life,' what some would call my B.C. days, meaning: Before Christ, but I wouldn't want to throw you off track by hanging out my dirty laundry, for you might get a judgmental spirit and the word of God would say, 'Such were some of you,' so I'll spare you my past shortcomings, because now, according to scripture, I am 'a new creation in Christ/Messiah!' The bible warns us of doctrines of men and demons, but Paul wrote most of the books in the new testament and many of the doctrines of God in the body of Christ today come to us from him, so much so that Martin Luther brought a reformation to the world through Paul's writings in Romans, standing on the truth that we are saved or come to salvation "In Christ Alone!"
While writing his letter to the church in Ephesus, situated in the Central Aegean region of Turkey, where the Temple of Artemis (Known as the Artemision): One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, where the Ephesians cried out for two hours, "Great is Artemis," marking a major religious uproar against Paul the Apostle's ministry, because Demetrius the Silversmith feared Paul's preaching would ruin their trade and diminish the goddess's reputation. She was not just a deity, but the central economic and religious force in the region and some scholars believe the reverence for her was transferred to the Virgin Mary, who was proclaimed Theotokos, meaning "God-bearer" or "Birth-giver to God," confirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD (this term is central to Eastern Orthodox and Catholic theology, affirming that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine). Common synonyms include "Mother of God" and Dei Genitrix. Wouldn't you like to see Christians today be as passionate for our heavenly Father?
If you have ever travelled on 'The Roman Road,' in just reading Romans 1-3, we can clearly see that both Jews & Gentiles need to be 'born-again' and come to Salvation/Yeshua/Jesus, to enter into the promised 'New & Better Covenant,' referenced in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. That being said, Saul's/Paul's 'former' life in Judaism was death to him, rubbish, he counted it all loss, since he came to intimately know his LORD/Yahweh on the road to Damascus. He was called out of darkness, into His marvelous Light and out of a religious system, into a right relationship with his Creator, Who gave him and all of His children, "The Ministry Of Reconciliation." It's his revelation in the book of Ephesians that brings us to understand God's heart for 'the One New Man,' both Jew and Gentile, One in Messiah, as prayed for by Jesus in John 17.
God's heart and my heart is for unity, His and our Oneness, so that He can & will command 'The Blessing,' according to Psalm 133, but the only Way to get there, is through obedience to His Word, perfect, acceptable will and Way! Each and every one of us must lay down our religious systems, doctrines of men and demons, die to self, come alive in Christ and walk in His Holy Spirit, bearing the good and lasting fruit that's mentioned in Galatians 5, so forgetting those things that are left behind, let us press forward to those things which are ahead of us, the great and precious promises, that are yes & amen in Jesus. The bible tells us that the great women and men of faith in Hebrews 11 are incomplete without us and that God has greater things instore for us, but this can only happen when we walk in The Light that's been given us and do our part to come into the fullness of God, His Way!
America is celebrating it's 250th year in 2026 and clearly acknowledging our Judeo/Christian foundations, so be sure to attend a National Day of Prayer gathering on the first Thursday in May. Mother's Day is May 10th and on the 17th our nation is being rededicated to God in Washington, DC! Visit https://www.10days.net to register for their free gathering in Santa Fe, NM, from the 21st-24th, which happens to be Pentecost Sunday, with Memorial Day on Monday the 25th. If you would like to have a prayer gathering in or around NM, don't hesitate to connect me!
Thanks & Blessings with Shalom,
Mark Tross
Coordinator for NM Prayer Connect
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Mark Tross
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